The acts of God issue from His throne, and His throne is established on His authority. All things are created through Godís authority and all physical laws of the universe are maintained by His authority. Hence the Bible expresses it as ďupholding all things by the word of His power, which means upholding all things by the word of the power of His authority. For Godís authority represents God himself whereas His power stands only for His act. Sin against power is more easily forgiven than sin against authority, because the latter is a sin against God himself. God alone is authority in all things; all the authorities of the earth are instituted by God. Authority is a tremendous thing in the universeónothing overshadows it. It is therefore imperative for us who desire to serve God to know the authority of God. . . .

Authority, the Controversy of the Universe

The controversy of the universe is centered on who shall have the authority, and our conflict with Satan is the direct result of our attributing authority to God. To maintain Godís authority we must be subject to it with all our hearts. It is absolutely necessary for us to meet Godís authority and to possess a basic knowledge of what it is.

Before he knew authority Paul tried to wipe out the church; after he had met the Lord on the Damascus road he saw that it was hard for the feet (human power) to kick against the goads (Godís authority). He immediately fell to the ground and acknowledged Jesus as Lord. After that, he was able to submit to the directions given him by Ananias in the city of Damascus, for Paul had met Godís authority. At the moment he was saved he knew Godís authority as well as Godís salvation.

How could Paul, being a clever and capable person, listen to the words of Ananiasóan unknown little brother mentioned only once in the Bibleóif he had not met the authority of God? Had he not encountered authority on the road to Damascus he could never have been subject to that obscure little brother in the city. This shows us that whoever has met authority deals purely with authority and not with man. Let us not see the man but only the authority vested in him. We do not obey man but Godís authority in that man. Otherwise, how can we ever learn what authority is? We are on the wrong road if we meet man first before we obey authority. The opposite is the
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